Go away

Where I work, summer is a big turnover time. Everyone works assignments that are usually two years long and there are two “transfer seasons,” summer and winter. Summer is by far the most popular, because this means that people with school-age kids can relocate when the kids are on vacation. Those without kids aim to get on the summer cycle if they didn’t start out that way because there are just more jobs. That means a bigger choice.

But the summer season also means you say goodbye and hello to a large number of people. Granted, my particular department is abnormal (60 Americans), but this Friday, I have six people leaving. That’s more than many people’s departments in full. And in addition to that, the bulk of the seventeen temporary employees will head back as well. That’s a lot of movement. (And a lot of paperwork.)

One day next month, I have three arriving – all on the same plane. It’s really kind of head-spinning.

Also on Friday, my intern/roommate is done with work, as is one of the others who’s stayed with me this year. Really, we keep the airlines busy this time of year.

Along with the goodbyes come goodbye parties. Let me just say for the record that I am so sick of them. They’re not all sad, because in this career you never know when you’re going to run into someone again and we always have each others' emails.

But the parties continue. And I’m getting worried. Not about the ones I’ve attended, but about the bar that’s been set.

My supervisor is one of the department heads. His is a higher-up position, second only to the Big Boss. There aren’t that many departments and his is, by leaps and bounds,  the largest department, especially when it comes to U.S. staff.

When the Big Boss left, we had a party that was a bit, um … excessive. Honestly, it was really, really over the top and should have been dialed down, or at least shared with all who were leaving. But it was not, and now I fear that my boss, second only to that position, will expect the same. And what’s worse is he’s been here for two assignments totaling five years. Based on this, he’s every bit excused to think that his own party would rival that one.

It’s not going to. And I am really starting to get concerned about it. I’ve collected less than $1 from the 200 people in my department, and that’s on purpose. We’re all so tired of kicking in for this going-away party, that in-house party and whatnot. I just couldn’t bear to say bring another $7 or whatever.

So I have barely any money. Plus, I’m having trouble motivating the local staff to really take it over. It’s a cultural thing, sort of a need for micro-managing and I just can’t do that on this topic. I care very little about sentimental things, so it’s really hard for me to come up with ideas on keepsakes and such. Plus I haven’t even been here half as long as the guy.

So that’s brutal. I have collected the money and we’ve got a little video, but I was kind of holding off on one person to leave before proceeding.

That’s one of my second-tier bosses. Really, he’s not a boss at all, but basically the structure in my department is the one guy had two “deputies.” One of those, the one over the largest sub-department, left on Friday.

And there were, by count FIVE parties. This is insane, and again, I fear it’s raised the bar.

First, there was a sub-department-wide party in which everyone kicked in something like $5. I couldn’t go because I had a doctor’s appointment. But the next day, the local staff bosses took him to lunch. Then there was a small apartment party for him, which I went to. The following day, the U.S. “deputies” took him out to lunch. Then, for crying out loud, there sub-section had ANOTHER party for him, right at the end of the day.

And this terrifies me because I am positive that my boss – the department boss – is going to expect at least six. It ain’t happening. And I am stressing out of it.

How come people can’t just smile, say thank you and walk away?

Playing Tourist

Did two big touristy things in Guangzhou this week: the circus and a river cruise.

Random placement of lions. 

Monday night, I went with two colleagues to a phenomenal circus, which was at the same place as the safari park (there’s also a water park, a crocodile park, a theme park and a hotel). We paid about $55 for it and it was totally worth it.

Oddly and sort of comfortingly, there were few animals. It was mostly acrobatics. Honestly, I was really preparing to be depressed over the treatment of animals, but in reality, with one exception, it didn’t seem abusive. Odd, but not abusive.

The odd started immediately, when the very first thing (after some clowns) was performers on horseback. The horses cantered around and these acrobats amazingly did all kinds of tricks. I don’t mean something as mundane as standing on a cantering horse; I mean more like three sets of people on each other’s shoulders straddling two cantering horses, or another performer flipping over and under another one. It was incredible. The oddness of that act was sitting in the middle: the horses cantered in a ring, with a giant clamshell-like thing in the middle. Seated in it were three people, petting lions. As Steph would say, Whisky. Tango. Foxtrot.

The other non-abusive oddities in the animal world were these really random interruptions. There would be some performers out, doing something mind-boggling, and then all of a sudden, a small herd of deer, a giraffe or an ostrich or something would run through.

Hamster wheel of death. I didn't take this photo.

I don’t remember many acts that were totally dependent on the animals. Most were used as dressing, like a parade of acrobats doing flips on motorcycles (people flips, not motorcycle flips) followed by a flock of flamingos. They did have elephants perform at one point. One stood with one foot on a stool and spun around with its three other legs off the ground. Two others flipped a jump rope.

The one animal thing that creeped me out was the bears. It was very unnatural. The bears were riding bikes and motorcycles. I didn't like that at all.

Most of the stuff was just unreal. They put on the circus every night, and I just don’t see how. The performers are from all over the world (there was a screen with a display prior to every act) and are just unbelievable.

Halfway during the horses, I turned to one of my colleagues and said it was worth every RMB we paid.

Insane motorcycle riders. Photo filched from internet.

The horses weren't even the coolest. Have you seen those big metal balls where people ride motorcycles in them? Like in upside-down circles? Well, they had one with THREE, and one guy went against the grain. I don't see how they didn't crash. Then they added more, and then they added more again. They had 7-9 motorcycles in it, with one guy going in an opposite direction. It was scary.

Then they had this giant thing like a hamster wheel that had four more hamster wheels out of it - four rotating circles rotating around a center one. They had guys in each circle, doing flips and jumps as the things rotated around the middle one. Of course, they flipped upside down on the rotation. Then they'd jump to the top of the circle, balancing as it rotated itself and rotated around the center. They started doing things like flips and jumps and did things like skipping rope and stripping. It was really fun. I was terrified for them. All three of us who went could barely watch.

My building (IFP) is to your left of the 100-story one.

The finale was this diving/trampoline thing. It was quite fun to watch, almost a comic routine. They had two trampolines in front of two “buildings” and, completely synchronized, people would jump off the “roof” and bounce back up into the “windows” or something.

They had three diving boards (two at “roof” level and one way higher) and again, it was synchronized to have them jump off into this pool that in the opening act had been set on fire. The finale for the diving thing was a guy all the way in the catwalks who dove down. I’ve no idea how deep that pool must have been.

So that was fun. It was on the must-do list, and an person who’s leaving soon wanted to go, so I joined her.

Another must-do was the river cruise, which is something I see from my bathroom window every night. We had a 40-something group from work, which was really awesome. The boat wasn’t just us, but we pretty much commandeered the second floor, which was the open, in-the-breeze one. I’d heard it had the potential to be hot, but it was really pleasant. And they gave us watermelon. I hadn’t expected that.

Canton Tower at night.

Really, it was just a slow boat where we went down the river for 30 minutes and then turned around and went back. The Guangzhou skyline is pretty amazing and everything lit up – including the bridges – was really pretty.

The fun thing was passing by my apartment building, just because I see the boats every night and this time I was on one. (Outing myself as being very lame, I know.) But it was cool, even if my photos didn’t turn out great.

One of my colleagues kept trying to get me to pose for the photos and I kept saying no. She didn’t let up and I eventually let her take some of me with my apartment building in the back, but they’re not very good. I’d also worked eight hours that day and had my hair in braids, so I look kind of silly – and hot. So I’m not going to post that.

So it was nice to play tourist. Today I went to an American food place, mentioned in several guidebooks, and had friend chicken and mashed potatoes, plus corn. It was FABULOUS.

It really was nice to have just a tourist day in my town. Really, there’s only one other thing that I absolutely want to see while I am here – a big park with a ram statue that is kind of the landmark – so I feel I’m on my way.

Great Scott!

It’s kind of scary when the most interesting thing you do all weekend is settle in for your 38^th viewing of “Back to the Future,” but that’s about the sum of the weekend.

Church of the Ascension.

Today was the second time this week we reserved the movie room here at Ascott. I did my first viewing of “The Blues Brothers” on Thursday. Honestly, I didn’t get it. I think I’m about 5-10 years too young for that one. The music was good, but as far as movies showcasing Chicago go, I’ll take Ferris, thank you. And if I want police officers looking stupid and wrecking cars, I’m going with “The Dukes of Hazzard,” thank you very much.

But “Back to the Future,” 30 years later, is still a good movie. Granted, the second one isn’t exactly accurate in its depiction of 2015, but it’s fun. Michael J. Fox was all that back then, for sure.

Meat market

This week was a long one at work – darn those five-day work weeks! – and recovery time post-Kazakhstan has slim. Normally I wake up well before my alarm clock goes off, but this past week it just hasn’t happened. The whole week has been totally exhausting.

On Friday, we had a little get-together, and immediately following that I did the outreach movie (“Apollo 13”). I just thought the week would never end, and even at that point, it didn’t. I worked all day on Saturday, too – eight hours.

So today, the highlight being vegging in the movie room was good for me. Really, the only other things I did were grocery-shopping and cooking dinner for next week. Other than that, I pretty much watched “King of the Hill” and “Mystery, Alaska” while napping on the sofa. I’ll never be able to get to sleep tonight.

Outside the circus

Next weekend I’m doing a river cruise on the Pearl River, which is just outside my window. It’s one of the few things I consider must-dos while I am in Guangzhou, and the office is getting a group up for Saturday. I’m glad; I didn’t want to go by myself. So far, I know of two families that are going so I’m pretty sure they’ll get enough for the trip to be a go.

Looking at the calendar, next week is going to be a doozie. Tomorrow night, I’m going to a circus and Tuesday night is Bible study. We have a “hail and farewell” party either on Wednesday or Thursday (not sure which; I wrote it on both days) and then Friday is another going-away party.

Sorry for the reflection

Going-away parties are big during the summer, and they’re already getting out of hand. My supervisor is leaving and I’m under pressure to get a party for him, but I am just not the right person for this. I place very little importance on sentimental things, and that’s what these are all about. As a result, I’ve been trying to get some of the local staff to take over the planning, but so far it’s come up empty.

After pulling teeth to get a little committee together, I had a meeting with the intention of turning over the ball. Well, I kept trying to hand it off, but no one would run with it.

The party is scheduled for August 5, with the 7^th being my supervisor’s last day. That’s three weeks, and so far, nothing has happened. I have no idea what will happen.

Photos of Almaty.

Good gosh Almaty, my feet hurt

One of two things has got to happen. Either I buy a decent pair of shoes/start bringing Band-aids or I am going to have to rethink this “walking everywhere on vacation” thing.

It’s Saturday morning in Almaty, a beautiful day and I am so sore I can barely walk. Yesterday, I walked the down and its environs, mostly because I speak no Russian, can’t figure the bus system and don’t have any idea how the cabs work. I wanted to go to this recreational area and it was 11 (or 13, depending on which map I used) kilometers away.

Well, so far, I haven’t really managed to see the sights here. I really like this town a lot (though still glad I got my No. 1 bid, Istanbul, as my onward over this, my No. 2) and it’s entirely manageable by foot, although probably in smaller bites that I’m tackling it.

I decided to walk the route of a four-hour bus tour (it didn’t stop at the sights but I wanted to, plus they wanted to charge me triple) and started toward the circus and towers, which was about a 30-minute walk. Then I zigged instead of zagged somehow and ran across the river. I knew I was totally off the original plan, so I opted to head towards the Ritz, which is where I heard there was a nice mall. It was quite a ways away and that had been my plan for Saturday, but what the heck, I’m flexible.

So, another 20 minutes later, I found it. It was indeed a nice mall but brand-new and only really high end stuff. And you could have counted the number of customers on one hand. They had nice cushy chairs, clean bathrooms and a water fountain, so that was good.

The day before, it was really sunny (no humidity whatsoever!) and in the 90s. I was completely aware of the fact I get migraines if not hydrated enough and was trying to find water or something to drink. Not Coke.

I had a complete fail on my first try, when I bought something that I thought was lemonade. It was the right color and had pictures of lemons on it, although when I looked at it closer later I realized they were limes. So that was the taste but holy cow, it was carbonated. That was not hydrating. I’d splurged on the big bottle – it was really hot – and tried to drink it, but it just wasn’t quenching.

Later, I found a grocery store and bought a bottle of water. Again I splurged on the liter and when I opened it, it fizzed. Strike two. I tried to choke that down, but it was just so awful. I wound up going to Hardee’s for lunch, getting a combo meal and skipping the Pepsi for plain old “table water.” I was so thirsty.

Finally, at the end of the day, I found another grocery store in some mall and went with Bonaqua, a familiar brand that didn’t fizz. I worked really hard in deciding a brand, too, poking all the bottles to try and tell if they were carbonated. I’m sure people thought I was nuts, but I did wind up with a genuine bottle of plain old water.

Sadly, the brand didn’t stick, because yesterday I also bought a bottle of Bonaqua and it did fizz. It was pretty brutal, but I had to choke it down. So I am not sure what I’ll do about water today. It’s been a chore.

Back to yesterday, the walking day. While sitting in the cushy mall, I took out the map and decided to head to the recreational place. Eleven kilometers? Ha. I reasoned that I did 6-7 in an hour on the elliptical every day – that’s at a high tension – and then rode a bike for half an hour, which is five miles. So I reasoned that going up and down would take about two hours each way and basically be no harder than working out twice in one day.

Can I just say, in hindsight, that was really a dumb reasoning process?

My feet have a combined nine blisters. My hips, feet and calves want a divorce. My shoulders want at least a separation, too, and the backpack was not all that heavy.

I found the recreational area OK, but was completely wiped out when I got there. I hung out by the creek for awhile and then turned around and did the 11 (or maybe 13) kilometers again. Then, consulting two maps, I decided I’d try to swing by the presidential palace on my way home.

And somehow I overshot it and got lost again. I mean, “lost” is a harsh term for vacation. I had no real plan, so it wasn’t a big deal, except I’d set out originally at 10 a.m. and this was post 6 p.m. I was ready for a hot shower. I really miss my Ascott tub. My hotel doesn’t have a tub; it has a shower that you have to step up about eight inches to get in, which makes it really scary when you step out, especially when you can barely stand up anyway.

On the trek back, I eventually found the river again and followed it back to the road my hotel was on and, by 8:05 p.m., was back. The shower was fabulous.

Today is my last day, but my flight doesn’t leave until almost 10 p.m. Maybe this will be the day that I see all the stuff that tourists are supposed to see.

I have seen a lot, but the theaters are closed, I’m in the one month that’s not winter all around and I can’t read Cyrillic so the museums are pretty much out. But I’ve seen several parks, which are cool. I found the “Green Market” and will head back there today, I think. I really don’t know. It’s really not bad to have no plan, but it really does hurt.